City of Trenton Report Card Grade E-

1. Taxes. . . A+
2. Delivery of Promised Services. . . F
3. Communication. . . F
4. Negotiations. . . F
5. Trust by Citizens. . . F

TAXES :

City of Trenton has an very good record at collecting taxes. Few Owner/occupants were able to equate the relatively low tax increase as compared to other areas of City as a signal the City had no intentions of ever providing meaningful flood prevention for Mulberry Street.

They were unable to make this connection due to the fact that for over 30 years Owner/occupants heard the broken record of a false promise. "The Assumpink Creek is still being studied!" As Owner/occupant real estate value was declining rather than increasing in value.

While Owner/occupants awaited the results of this study in hopes that meaningful flood prevention would soon arrive. In hopes to recoup investments in rebuilding flood after flood for over 30 years. The City knew over 15 years ago that they were NOT going to provide any flood control citing it was not a viable option in the year 2000.

DELIVERY OF PROMISED SEVICES :

De snagging, clean-up, and maintenance. As yet to this date no Owner/occupant can recall when they saw crews cleaning the Assumpink.

In fact debris from Hurricane Floyd of 1999 still lies in the falls of the Creek. Trees fallen by recent thunderstorms are still where the fell causing potentially hazardous conditions in Flash Flood events. City officials in talks with MSA said money's were allocated for this program.

Yet the delivery of this service has yet to materialize or be seen by Owner/occupants. Instead Owner/occupants do themselves what they can to maintain the mini-park and clean-up the banks of the Creek.

Communication :

The Mayor himself stood upon the banks of Assumpink along with Federal officials from FEMA in the unveiling of "Project Impact" and said, "No citizen would be displaced by this program!"

Two weeks later Owner/occupants read in local newspapers that a City buy out was about to occur! The mitigation had begun, and after Hurricane Floyd of 1999 was expanded into 3 phases.

As of this date Owner/occupants have seen these phases change to suit the City attempts to comply with this Federal mitigation, the picture above illustrates the most recent phase change.

Owner/occupants are amazed at how guideline's, programs, and proposals change so rapidly without even the knowledge of its citizens then unveiled as the current status. Yet Proposals from MSA were deemed "not doable" by the Mayor himself.

The Mayor has yet to even recognize MSA as a viable Association. Nor enter into meaningful dialog with MSA to bring about an equitable solution to this mitigation. Even though MSA is now a member of the Trenton Council of Civic Associations.

Negotiations :

MSA has been waiting to hear from the City when talks can resume concerning this mitigation. As of this writing the last time MSA and City met was June 22, 2000.

When the City first informed citizens of the latest changes to mitigation. Which included reassignment of phases that concentrates MSA into phase 2 now instead of how it was originally.

MSA was in phase 1 and phase 2 of this mitigation now we are in phase 2. It is MSA's contention that now the City wants to tackle us by talking numbers rather than ownership to ownership as MSA had originally proposed.

And if the numbers are not to the City's advantage phase 2 shall be abandoned completely. Which defeats this mitigation!

Federal mitigation officials cite the purpose of "mitigation" is to allow the owner/occupant to recoup most of their investment to ease the loss.

In our case what the City is offering will NOT allow owner/occupants to even recoup 15% of their investment and certainly NOT enable them to move out of harms way due to the additional financial burden this loss would provide.

MSA views this recent tactic of re alignment of phases as a means to concentrate MSA into a single phase whereby the cash cow could be milked once again. By this we mean if they abandon phase 2 because as the City puts it MSA is not being realistic.

It would ensure funds coming into the City to help us with future flooding events. But then again Owner/occupants have known that our misery meant money to the City and State.

Trust by Citizens :

MSA wonders if the City really cares. City has a long way to go in mending this fence. Citizens here have heard promise after promise that turned out to be lies in the end result of matters.

MSA members were shocked to learn that the City knew over 15 years ago that no meaningful flood prevention was ever going to be a reality for Mulberry Street.

Yet they kept us here with promises that flood prevention was just around the corner. Well we have turned that corner only to find a City offering owner/occupants next to nothing after a life of rebuilding homes and families from flood events of the Assumpink Creek.

Over a 30 year span most owner/occupants have invested over $90,000.00 in improvements and in complying with retrofitting. City wants us to pack up and move on for an average buy-out figure of $30,000.00.

MSA members know that when the City claims to take action it may be seen right away or not at all. MSA members know when it comes to Mulberry Street the saying I will believe it when I see it, is the reply!

So far the City has made promises of de snagging, clean-up of all ready acquired properties, and maintenance of Assumpink Creek at Mulberry Street, and we are well into hurricane season and none of the promises or programs have we seen being done.

7-27-2000

WZBN covers MSA press conference where the Self Development of People award MSA a $3,500.00 Grant to aid MSA in acquiring legal council. The Times mistakenly reports that MSA intends on suing the City. TCCA also attends press conference in support of MSA cause.